Katie Zacharia fired as White House press secretary after just 5 days following public scrutiny
Just five days into the job as the new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is 'transitioning out' of the job, very shortly after Donald Trump told her she should 'reconsider' her role.
Zacharia was heavily criticised for her first press conference due to her stilted delivery, mixing up her husband and the president, and not answering many questions.
She then faced scrutiny over claims that she called herself a lawyer but hadn't passed the bar exam, with the White House saying she was 'a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team'.
Now after five days in the job White House officials have said that she's 'transitioning out' of the role, making it a sudden turnaround for Zacharia after Trump said on Tuesday (13 October) that he thought she did 'very good' at her first press conference.
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Earlier this week she was being praised as 'uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people' by White House communications director Steven Cheung, now she's on her way out.
In the end she's only managed to last less then half a Scaramucci before getting the boot.
The tune had changed today when Trump suggested she should think about whether or not she was in the right job.
Speaking to reporters he said: "I said Katie, you know you don’t have to do this if you don’t want. If I were you I'd reconsider."
When your boss tells you to 'reconsider' the job you've just taken there's a fairly clear message to pick up there.
Trump said he'd told Zacharia: "Is this for you Katie? Because honestly you don't need this."
He went on to say that she'd been treated 'pretty nastily' during a Fox News interview where she had to defend her performance, then added 'welcome to the world of Trump'.
It was last Friday that she was offered the job, and she started in her new role on Monday before confirmation today that she would be leaving the position.
The White House did not confirm whether her transition out of the job was immediate or would take some time, but she is on her way out.
Zacharia was Trump's sixth press secretary, replacing Karoline Leavitt who had departed the role earlier this year.
White House staff who'd seen her first press conference had said Zacharia 'got off on the wrong foot' and would need to improve quickly or risk breaking Anthony Scaramucci's record of 11 days doing the White House briefings before being fired.
He was out so quickly his name became a unit of measurement in politics, perhaps Zacharia's five day tenure will also end up being so.
Topics: US News, Donald Trump
Joe Harker